A group of concerned Nebraska citizens has organized a Rally to be conducted this Sunday, March 15, at 2:00PM in front of Senator Ben Nelson’s office in downtown Lincoln. The primary purpose of the Rally is to send a message to the Senator regarding his key role in passing and his “Yes” vote on the Stimulus Bill that was signed by President Obama on February 17. This group’s overall mission is to encourage public policy that promotes limited government, free markets, and individual liberty.

To get the word out about the Rally, the organizers have appeared on a few talk radio programs, promoted through many venues on the internet, made phone calls, sent emails, and have traveled throughout the area distributing business-sized cards with all pertinent event information.

Attendees are being asked to bring a can of “PORK” & Beans to the Rally to show their dismay about the number of unnecessary spending programs that were included in the bill. The collected can goods will be donated to a local food pantry or family shelter.

The group of organizers wish to provide their fellow Nebraskans an opportunity to have their voices heard and show them they are not alone in their deep concern about the reckless spending, rewards for failure, and inclusion of unrevealed increased government regulation and intrusion into the lives of all Americans that has been assured by the passage of the Stimulus Bill, TARP, mortgage rescue plan, and other bills recently and currently before Congress.

Particularly, the Rally is intended to send a message to Sen. Ben Nelson, who played a key role in assuring the Stimulus Bill’s passage through his negotiations with the only Republican Senators who voted for the bill; Snow, Collins, and Specter. When initial details of the Stimulus were presented to the House of Representatives, Sen. Nelson expressed concern. For example, during a Jan. 30th interview, “Nelson emphasized to [Fox News's Bill] Hemmer that he’s not ‘as concerned’ about the size of the bill, but that some of ‘the actual ingredients within the program’ were only ‘marginally stimulative’.

(1)Despite Sen. Nelson’s initial statements and great show of making improvements, the final version of the bill was changed very little from the original. The Congressional Budget Office’s review noted that the bill, at best, may provide a short term jolt to the economy, but would ultimately be more harmful than doing nothing at all .**

(2). It is problematic that Sen. Nelson was at no point concerned about the bill’s “size”, considering the amount of debt and unfunded obligations the United States has been accumulating. The stated National Debt is almost $11 Trillion dollars, which is nearly $14 Trillion, the amount of GDP for a fiscal year.*

(3). Unfunded obligations which included Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, bailouts, and amounts at risk in further guarantees now total nearly $60 Trillion***.

(4). In order to fund the Feb. 17 Stimulus Bill, the government must borrow from foreign countries and the Treasury must print more money. This endangers the U.S. credit rating, ensures higher taxes in the future, and will almost certainly lead to very high inflation; which is just another form of taxation.